Carlyle, Citi to explore asset-backed finance opportunities in fintech lending

Carlyle and Citi have announced plans to collaborate on asset-backed financing opportunities in the fintech specialty lending space.

The global investment firm and the bank have formalised a framework through which they can exchange market intelligence and explore co-investment and financing opportunities.

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Citi’s spread products investment in technologies (SPRINT) team, which is a venture equity investor in fintech specialty lenders, will support the collaboration through its investment expertise and network.

“The strategic connectivity of our SPRINT team to our asset-backed finance business enables us to seamlessly share expertise and fulfil the financing needs of tomorrow’s fintech leaders across the entire capital structure,” said Lee Smallwood, head of markets innovation and investments at Citi.

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“Demand for scalable and tailored asset-backed financing solutions from fintech lenders has increased as they mature and seek efficient ways to fund their growth,” said Akhil Bansal, head of asset-backed finance at Carlyle.

“By combining our deep credit and structuring expertise with Citi’s leading presence in the fintech investment landscape, we’re well-positioned to capture emerging opportunities and support the next generation of financial technology leaders.”

Carlyle Asset-Backed Finance (ABF) sits within Carlyle’s global credit platform and is focused on private fixed income and asset-backed investments.

Since 2021, Carlyle ABF has deployed approximately $8bn (£5.9bn) and, as of 31 March 2025, has approximately $9bn in assets under management.

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